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Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem

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This article is about two related modern chivalric Orders. For the original medieval Catholic military order, see Knights Templar. For other uses, see Knights Templar (disambiguation).

The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (Latin: Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, OSMTH, French: Ordre Souverain et Militaire du Temple de Jérusalem, OSMTJ) are a group of associations commonly originating from the revivalist Ordre du Temple (Order of the Temple) which was formed in 1804 by Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat.

Background

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Main article: Neo-Templarism

The l'Ordre du Temple, a revivalist organization, was founded in 1804 by Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat, later founder of the Johannite Church, who claimed that he had discovered that the Knights Templar had never gone away and that there was a continued line of Grand Masters to the present day.[1]

History

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The Ordre du Temple was then under the administration of the Martinist KVMRIS lodge in Brussels beginning in 1894 until it was registered as OSMTJ in 1932.[2] In 1970, a schism occurred within the Order when General Antoine Zdrojewski [pl] was unexpectedly elected as the new Grand Master at the Convent of Paris in September, 1970. Zdrojewski was succeeded by Georges Lamirand [fr] as the new head of the OSMTJ until his death in 1994.[3]

The faction which remained with de Sousa Fontes after the 1970 election used the Latin acronym OSMTH.[3] In 1997, OSMTH voted to expel Grand Master Fernando de Sousa Fontes from the order. This resulted in another schism with those loyal to Fontes forming a new organization presently known as OSMTH-Regency while the remainder of the organization continued on as OSMTH.[4]

During WWII, the order's records were transferred to Portugal, where they were taken care of by Antonio de Sousa Fontes. After the war ended, Fontes believed that the status of Grand Master had been transferred to him, but this was contested by the members who remained in Belgium. Legal battles ensued, especially after Fontes died and gave the position to his son.[4]

Beliefs and practices

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They formerly claimed to be direct descendants of the Knights Templar through the Larmenius Charter, but have since recanted this.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Introvigne 2006, p. 21.
  2. ^ Introvigne 2006, p. 23.
  3. ^ a b Zoccatelli 2004, p. 439.
  4. ^ a b Hodapp & Von Kannon 2007, p. 206.
  5. ^ Hodapp & Von Kannon 2007, pp. 176, 206.

Sources

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  • Hodapp, Christopher; Von Kannon, Alice (2007). "Part III: After the Fall of the Templars". The Templar Code For Dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. ISBN 9780470127650.
  • Introvigne, Massimo (2006). "Ordeal by Fire: The Tragedy of the Solar Temple". In Lewis, James R. (ed.). The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death. Controversial New Religions. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-5285-4.
  • Zoccatelli, Pierluigi (2004). "Neo-Templarism". In Clarke, Peter (ed.). Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-49970-0.
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